Team Pantera Racing has completed their awards for the 2010 season.  This year was a rough one with TPR President Dennis "Mad Dog" Antenucci spending part of his race season "at large" overseas in a desert location.  Even so, TPR gave away three awards this year:

• Ellis Woumnm Memorial "Iron Man" Award
• "Gary Hall Memorial Award"
• "SOBill Award"

This year found Team Pantera Racing adding to the award list with the newly christened "SOBill Award."  Known to his friends as "Sweet Old Bill" Taylor, SOBill has been a quiet but significant member of the Pantera community for many years.  Most folks know him as an electrical wizard who has made sense of the plethora of wiring in the Pantera, having re-written in bite-size chunks most of the diagrams.  His efforts can be found on The Pantera Place under the Electrical section.  In addition, Bill also rebuilds turn signal assemblies for the Pantera community.

Not all turn signal assemblies can be rebuilt of course, but Bill has done a wonderful job of helping folks out of a jam.  Now that new assemblies appear to be available once again, Bill's service isn't used quite as much but is still a great value to the cost conscious Pantera owner.  But that's not Bill's only contribution.

Bill has written articles for POCA, engineered tooling for replacing a-arm bushings and even offered to loan these speciality tools to other owners.  It is in this selfless spirit of giving to the entire Pantera community that Team Pantera Racing names this award and is pleased to present it to Sweet Old Bill Taylor as the first of what we hope to be many recipients.  The text for this years award reads:

Congratulations Bill.

Next comes the "Gary Hall Memorial Award."  This award goes to the person who exhibits the greatest team spirit both in encouragement and participation in Open Road Racing.  This year TPR is proud to present this award to Bob "Rowdy" Radefeld who once again spearheaded a push into Arnold Nebraska with a small TPR team to participate in the Sandhills Open Road Challenge (SORC).

One of the most challenging runs of the season and certainly what most consider to be the best venue to visit, Arnold opens its doors wide for the participants.  This race is booked nearly a year in advance with some entries not making the cut simply because they were lower in the pile on the postmarked date.  Bob once again managed to rally enough entries to make a small team even if one had to leave the Pantera in the garage at the last minute and drive a Porsche.

Everyone ran, everyone finished, everyone had a good time.  So for his efforts, Team Pantera Racing is proud to present the 2010 "Gary Hall Memorial Award."  The text for this years award reads:

Outstanding Support and Dedication to the DeTomaso Marque and Team Pantera Racing at the Sandhills Open Road Challenge August 12-15, 2010.

Congratulations Bob.

Our final award for 2010 goes to a gentleman who earned a new nick-name over the course of participating in the Silver State Classic Challenge (SSCC).  Bud "Bad Bud" Hower might now be known as Bud "7-banger" Hower.  It all began after a heartbreaking email from Gail Waldman of the SSCC informing Team Pantera Racing that -no- Panteras had registered for the event.

Mad Dog was overseas, Asa Jay was still waffling at home, nobody else had stepped up to the plate.  Bud heard the call and put his entry in right away, having just finished the SORC.  Thus Bud's adventure began.

Over the course of days and weeks, Bud emailed back and forth with people in the Silver State Classic Challenge, Mad Dog, Asa Jay, Rowdy and others.  He found the rules at SSCC were a little different than SORC.  Bud had to source new wheels and tires, he decided to install a new race harness and he had to take care of several other minor things.  But that was nothing compared to the final hours.

As Bud approached Las Vegas, he found his engine was drinking oil by the quart; about one quart every 50 miles.  As Mad Dog, Asa Jay and Rowdy began to hear disappointment in his voice, they rallied to encourage Bud on, giving him advice and contacts to help him out.  During troubleshooting, Bud found one plug was wet with oil so he disconnected the plug wire and went for a drive... no more oil consumption.

Running on seven cylinders, Bud remained undeterred and finished the drive to Ely Nevada to participate.  He passed tech inspection, partied with the SSCC regulars and then completed the race with no other problems.  Afterward, he drove the same Pantera all the way home, still on seven cylinders.   For this herculean effort, Team Pantera Racing is proud to present the Ellis Woumnm Memorial "Iron Man" award to Bud Hower for 2010.  The text of this years award reads:

Outstanding Achievement in Open Road Racing Despite Overwhelming Odds at the Silver State Classic Challenge September 16-19, 2010.

Congratulations Bud, your deserve it!

For more information on these awards, please visit our awards page for descriptions, eligibility criteria and recipient determination.

Team Pantera Racing wishes to extend a hearty Thank You to -all- Pantera owners who do more than polish their cars; they get out there and have fun Driving.